Thursday, March 28, 2013

Jazz reviewers are exposed
to musicians with all levels of talent. Many are good enough to make a
decent living with their skills, and some have become name artists; the latter
group makes this job worthwhile.

Once in awhile, though, I’m
exposed to an individual or group so far above the norm, that the album in
question doesn’t merely make my day; it makes my entire year. Such
is the case with the Jeff Holmes Quartet.

Were I living in the New York
City area, I’d probably know these guys by now, because they all work — and
have spent most of their careers — in that locale. But as a West Coaster,
they’ve been under my radar until recently.

Holmes is a multitalented
musician. His primary instrument now is the piano, but he’s also an
extremely talented trumpeter, composer, arranger and educator. He has
played with, and created arrangements for, numerous name artists and musical
groups. This album showcases his current small combo, and he’s also in the
process of creating a big band.

Holmes is joined here by
Adam Kolker, who plays tenor and soprano saxes, bass clarinet and flute, and
also is an arranger. He has led numerous groups of his own, and has a
larger discography than Holmes. James Cammack plays both acoustic and
electric bass and, until now, has been best known for his work with the Ahmad
Jamal Trio. Drummer Steve Johns, finally, has played with most of the
famous groups that make the Big apple their home base.

This quartet is, without
doubt, the best I’ve heard in years.

Holmes is responsible for
all the arrangements, and he composed five of the nine tunes. The four
standards are John Abercrombie’s “Labour Day,” Nat Simon’s “Poinciana,” Toby Holmes’ “Waltz #3” and Rogers and Hammerstein’s “So Long,Farewell,” from The Sound Of Music. I haven’t heard
a fresh cover of “Poinciana” in years and, to my knowledge, this is the first
time “So Long”
has been done in a jazz mode. They’re the session’s two most impressive
charts.

The basic melodic lines are
complex, but so beautifully arranged that they’re relaxed and fluid in execution. All
solo work is impressive and joyful, and, best of all, no matter how many times
each track is played, you’ll hear something that you missed previously ... and
you’ll rejoice again.

It’s all marvelous fun.
Needless to add, this is the kind of music that reviewers hunger for!

Bassist Jon Hamar is another
of the many excellent jazz artists based in the Seattle area. The
Washington state native began to play the acoustic bass as an 11-year-old, and
added the electric instrument a year later. He earned a bachelor’s degree
in classical double bass performance from Eastern Washington University,
followed by a master’s degree in jazz and contemporary media from Eastman
University.

Hamar moved to Seattle in
2001, where he became a fixture in the thriving jazz scene.

In addition to his
involvement with many Pacific Northwest orchestras and combos, he teaches at
several state universities and colleges; his prowess as an instructor is best
indicated by the fact that many of his former students have been accepted by
the prestigious Eastman School Of Music for advanced studies.

The trio used in this album is quite unusual:
Hamar is the bassist; Geoffrey Keezer plays piano and Rhodes; and Todd
DelGiudice is on alto sax. That combination, initially used at a jazz
festival, intrigued Hamar; he recalls thinking, “This could work out, if everybody
has a similar time concept”. He discussed the idea with bassist John
Patitucci, who opined that the choice of pianist would be crucial; Keezer’s
name headed his list of potential candidates.

The more Hamar thought about
it, the more excited he got; he composed several trial tunes for that
instrumental grouping, then contacted Keezer, who reacted positively. Hamar
already was familiar with DelGiudice, who had worked with the likes of Woody
Herman, Maria Schneider and Ray Charles. As a result, as Sherlock Holmes would
have put it, the game was afoot.

Half of the dozen tracks in
this album are Hamar compositions, the rest are arrangements of tunes written
by other artists. Chinese pianist Xia Jia, whom Hamar met at Eastman, wrote “Tea”; and Steve Swallow’s “Falling Grace” is a
jazz standard, as are Coltrane’s “Giant Steps,” Jimmy Van Huesen’s “It Could Happen to You” and
Billy Strayhorn’s “Isfahan.”
The styles range from ballads, tone poems and traditional melodies to grooving
tunes such as “The Big Fat Hen.”
The common thread is the scintillating performance provided by the trio
members.

Hamar was right: Everything
did work out, and the result is some of the most tasty jazz I’ve hear in
years.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Greg Abate is a 67-year-old
saxophonist, flautist, composer and arranger. His music career began
shortly after high school, when he gigged with relatively unknown bands in the
California area, but he didn’t really become “known” until joining the Ray
Charles band in 1973. Another job with the reincarnated Artie Shaw orchestra
followed in ’82, along with stints with the likes of Red Rodney, but the major
part of Abate’s time has been spent with lesser-known groups. His
discography is quite limited (about a dozen albums).

Phil Woods, a famed
saxophonist, clarinetist and composer, is in his 80s. Unlike Abate, Woods has
worked with most of the name musicians who ruled the roost from the 1960s
onward. His discography is in the hundreds, both as a sideman and
leader. Abate — and the music world — consider Woods to be one of the
premier alto saxophonists of the bop era, which explains Abate’s thrill at
having this giant as a member of the quintet featured on this album.

The supporting members
include pianist Jesse Green, son of trombonist Urbie Green (an icon unto
himself); bassist Evan Gregor; and drummer Bill Goodwin. The latter is another
elder statesman, still swinging at age 71. Green is in his 40s and Gregor
is the youngster, still in his 30s. I must note that Woods performs on
only five of these 10 tracks, and thus the quintet becomes a quartet on the
other tunes.

Abate composed and arranged
all but two of the selections. “Marny” is a John Patrick chart, and Woods contributed “Goodbye Mr.Pepper,” a tribute to
the great Art Pepper. The genre is bop; except for “Marny,” delivered as a ballad,
everything is done at mid- to up-tempos. Woods performs exclusively on alto sax,
while Abate switches between alto, soprano, baritone saxes and flute.

This session takes me back
to the peak of the period that began in the 1950s. This group feels more West
Coast than East; it’s relaxed and pensive. Both Abate and Woods are
exceptional talents, but there’s no doubt that Phil remains one of the major
names on alto. Charlie Parker was “the man,” but Woods fully deserved —
and still deserves — his reputation as “one of the new Parkers.” The fact that
he’s in the sunset of his career (age-wise) pains me deeply, but he still blows
up a storm.

Signum Classics is a British
label and Julian Bliss, born in the United Kingdom in 1989, is an
internationally famed clarinetist; he also designed a range of clarinets for Conn/Selmer
that bear his name. He was a child prodigy, performing in public at the
age of 5, who became much better known for his work with concert and
symphony orchestras than as a leader of jazz combos.

At the age of 7, during a
trip to New York City, Bliss heard — and fell in love with — Benny Goodman,
thanks to a CD the boy purchased as a souvenir. That was it: Bliss had found
his bliss. Years later, still enthralled, he decided to do something about
it. With the support of arranger Neal Thornton, Bliss selected a baker’s dozen
of Goodman hits, formed a septet, and recorded this album.

Jazz has taken many forms
over the years. Some are “locale” related — Chicago, Kansas City, East Coast,
West Coast — while others have been “time” related: 4 to the bar, 2 to the bar,
and so forth. Goodman was part of the swing era, which was most often “4
to the bar” dance and pop. It was an infectious and wonderful genre, and
those who lived through that period still miss it.

Bliss has revived it in this
tribute album.

You’ll recognize many of these tunes. “Don’t Be
That Way,” “Stompin’ at the Savoy,” “Seven ComeEleven” and “Soft Winds” are Goodman classics,
written in conjunction with (respectively) Edgar Sampson, Charlie Christian and
Fred Royal; all were members of Benny’s band at one time or another. These
and others on this album — “Up a LazyRive,”“Lady Be Good,” “Here’s That Rainy Day” — are done under their original titles,
but their chord structures have been utilized to create “new” tunes within the
bop genre.

Every member of
Bliss’ septet obviously had a great time during this recording session. If
you’re from my generation, you’ll experience the same thrill.